Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 300 (2015GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Greene, B.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/31/2015

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• Ĥ→ [ redefines a ] eliminates the definition of ←Ĥ concealed dangerous weapon Ĥ→ [ to 12a include only concealed firearms ] ←Ĥ ;
• amends provisions related to the penalties for carrying a concealed firearm; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 2:01 PM by jeyring.
This document includes House Committee Amendments (CORRECTED) incorporated into the bill on Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 12:35 PM by lerror.
FIREARM AND DANGEROUS WEAPONS AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Brian M. Greene
Senate Sponsor: 
 Alvin B. Jackson
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions relating to concealed weapons.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ 
Ĥ→ [
redefines a
] 
eliminates the definition of
 ←Ĥ
 concealed dangerous weapon 
Ĥ→ [
to
12a 
include only concealed firearms
] ←Ĥ
 ;
▸ amends provisions related to the penalties for carrying a concealed firearm; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53-5a-104
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapter 431
76-10-501
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapter 428
76-10-504
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 301
23a 
 Ĥ→ 
76-10-507, as enacted by Laws of Utah 1973, Chapter 196
 ←Ĥ
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53-5a-104
 is amended to read:
53-5a-104.
Firearm transfer certification.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Certification" means the participation and assent of the chief law enforcement
officer necessary under federal law for the approval of the application to transfer or make a
firearm.
(b) "Chief law enforcement officer" means any official the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or any successor agency, identifies by regulation or
otherwise as eligible to provide any required certification for the making or transfer of a
firearm.
(c) "Firearm" [
has the same meaning as provided
] 
means the same as that term is
defined
 in the National Firearms Act, [
] 
 U.S.C. Sec. 5845(a).
(2) A chief law enforcement officer may not make a certification under this section that
the chief law enforcement officer knows to be untrue. The chief law enforcement officer may
not refuse to provide certification based on a generalized objection to private persons or entities
making, possessing, or receiving firearms or any certain type of firearm, the possession of
which is not prohibited by law.
(3) Upon receiving a federal firearm transfer form a chief law enforcement officer or
the chief law enforcement officer's designee shall provide certification if the applicant:
(a) is not prohibited by law from receiving or possessing the firearm; or
(b) is not the subject of a proceeding that could result in the applicant being prohibited
by law from receiving or possessing the firearm.
(4) The chief law enforcement officer, the chief law enforcement officer's designee, or
official signing the federal transfer form shall:
(a) return the federal transfer form to the applicant within 15 calendar days; or
(b) if the applicant is denied, provide to the applicant the reasons for denial in writing
within 15 calendar days.
(5) Chief law enforcement officers and their employees who act in good faith when
acting within the scope of their duties are immune from liability arising from any act or
omission in making a certification as required by this section. Any action taken against a chief
law enforcement officer or an employee shall be in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 7,
Governmental Immunity Act of Utah.
Section 2. Section 
76-10-501
 is amended to read:
76-10-501.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) (a) "Antique firearm" means:
(i) any firearm, including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or
similar type of ignition system, manufactured in or before 1898; or
(ii) a firearm that is a replica of any firearm described in this Subsection (1)(a), if the
replica:
(A) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed
ammunition; or
(B) uses rimfire or centerfire fixed ammunition which is:
(I) no longer manufactured in the United States; and
(II) is not readily available in ordinary channels of commercial trade; or
(iii) (A) that is a muzzle loading rifle, shotgun, or pistol; and
(B) is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute, and cannot use fixed
ammunition.
(b) "Antique firearm" does not include:
(i) a weapon that incorporates a firearm frame or receiver;
(ii) a firearm that is converted into a muzzle loading weapon; or
(iii) a muzzle loading weapon that can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition by
replacing the:
(A) barrel;
(B) bolt;
(C) breechblock; or
(D) any combination of Subsection (1)(b)(iii)(A), (B), or (C).
(2) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Criminal Identification created in Section 
53-10-201
within the Department of Public Safety.
(3) 
Ĥ→ [
[
] 
(a)
 [
]
] ←Ĥ
 "Concealed [
dangerous weapon"
] 
firearm"
 means a [
dangerous
85a 
weapon
]
firearm
 that is:
Ĥ→ [
[
]
(i)
 [
]
] [
(a)
] ←Ĥ
covered, hidden, or secreted in a manner that the public would
87a not be aware of
its presence; and
Ĥ→ [
[
] 
(ii)
 [
]
] 
[
(b)
] ←Ĥ
readily accessible for immediate use.
[
(b) A dangerous weapon is not a concealed dangerous weapon if it is a firearm which
is unloaded and is securely encased.
]
91a 
 Ĥ→ 
(b) A firearm that is unloaded and securely encased is not a concealed firearm for the
91b 
purposes of this part.
 ←Ĥ
(4) "Criminal history background check" means a criminal background check
conducted by a licensed firearms dealer on every purchaser of a handgun, except a Federal
Firearms Licensee, through the bureau or the local law enforcement agency where the firearms
dealer conducts business.
(5) "Curio or relic firearm" means a firearm that:
(a) is of special interest to a collector because of a quality that is not associated with
firearms intended for:
(i) sporting use;
(ii) use as an offensive weapon; or
(iii) use as a defensive weapon;
(b) (i) was manufactured at least 50 years before the current date; and
(ii) is not a replica of a firearm described in Subsection (5)(b)(i);
(c) is certified by the curator of a municipal, state, or federal museum that exhibits
firearms to be a curio or relic of museum interest;
(d) derives a substantial part of its monetary value:
(i) from the fact that the firearm is:
(A) novel;
(B) rare; or
(C) bizarre; or
(ii) because of the firearm's association with an historical:
(A) figure;
(B) period; or
(C) event; and
(e) has been designated as a curio or relic firearm by the director of the United States
Treasury Department Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms under 27 C.F.R. Sec. 478.11.
(6) (a) "Dangerous weapon" means:
(i) a firearm; or
(ii) an object that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or
serious bodily injury.
(b) The following factors are used in determining whether any object, other than a
firearm, is a dangerous weapon:
(i) the location and circumstances in which the object was used or possessed;
(ii) the primary purpose for which the object was made;
(iii) the character of the wound, if any, produced by the object's unlawful use;
(iv) the manner in which the object was unlawfully used;
(v) whether the manner in which the object is used or possessed constitutes a potential
imminent threat to public safety; and
(vi) the lawful purposes for which the object may be used.
(c) "Dangerous weapon" does not include an explosive, chemical, or incendiary device
as defined by Section 
76-10-306
.
(7) "Dealer" means a person who is:
(a) licensed under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923; and
(b) engaged in the business of selling, leasing, or otherwise transferring a handgun,
whether the person is a retail or wholesale dealer, pawnbroker, or otherwise.
(8) "Enter" means intrusion of the entire body.
(9) "Federal Firearms Licensee" means a person who:
(a) holds a valid Federal Firearms License issued under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923; and
(b) is engaged in the activities authorized by the specific category of license held.
(10) (a) "Firearm" means a pistol, revolver, shotgun, short barreled shotgun, rifle or
short barreled rifle, or a device that could be used as a dangerous weapon from which is
expelled a projectile by action of an explosive.
(b) As used in Sections 
76-10-526
 and 
76-10-527
, "firearm" does not include an
antique firearm.
(11) "Firearms transaction record form" means a form created by the bureau to be
completed by a person purchasing, selling, or transferring a handgun from a dealer in the state.
(12) "Fully automatic weapon" means a firearm which fires, is designed to fire, or can
be readily restored to fire, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a
single function of the trigger.
(13) (a) "Handgun" means a pistol, revolver, or other firearm of any description, loaded
or unloaded, from which a shot, bullet, or other missile can be discharged, the length of which,
not including any revolving, detachable, or magazine breech, does not exceed 12 inches.
(b) As used in Sections 
76-10-520
, 
76-10-521
, and 
76-10-522
, "handgun" and "pistol
or revolver" do not include an antique firearm.
(14) "House of worship" means a church, temple, synagogue, mosque, or other
building set apart primarily for the purpose of worship in which religious services are held and
the main body of which is kept for that use and not put to any other use inconsistent with its
primary purpose.
(15) "Prohibited area" means a place where it is unlawful to discharge a firearm.
(16) "Readily accessible for immediate use" means that a firearm or other dangerous
weapon is carried on the person or within such close proximity and in such a manner that it can
be retrieved and used as readily as if carried on the person.
(17) "Residence" means an improvement to real property used or occupied as a primary
or secondary residence.
(18) "Securely encased" means not readily accessible for immediate use, such as held
in a gun rack, or in a closed case or container, whether or not locked, or in a trunk or other
storage area of a motor vehicle, not including a glove box or console box.
(19) "Short barreled shotgun" or "short barreled rifle" means a shotgun having a barrel
or barrels of fewer than 18 inches in length, or in the case of a rifle, having a barrel or barrels
of fewer than 16 inches in length, or a dangerous weapon made from a rifle or shotgun by
alteration, modification, or otherwise, if the weapon as modified has an overall length of fewer
than 26 inches.
(20) "State entity" means a department, commission, board, council, agency,
institution, officer, corporation, fund, division, office, committee, authority, laboratory, library,
unit, bureau, panel, or other administrative unit of the state.
(21) "Violent felony" has the same meaning as defined in Section 
76-3-203.5
.
Section 3. Section 
76-10-504
 is amended to read:
76-10-504.
Carrying concealed firearm -- Penalties.
(1) Except as provided in Section 
76-10-503
 and in Subsections (2), (3), and (4), a
person who carries a concealed [
dangerous weapon
] 
firearm
, as defined in Section 
76-10-501
,
including an unloaded firearm on his or her person or one that is readily accessible for
immediate use which is not securely encased, as defined in this part, in or on a place other than
the person's residence, property, a vehicle in the person's lawful possession, or a vehicle, with
the consent of the individual who is lawfully in possession of the vehicle, or business under the
person's control is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
(2) A person who carries a concealed [
dangerous weapon which
] 
firearm that
 is a
loaded firearm in violation of Subsection (1) is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(3) A person who carries concealed an unlawfully possessed short barreled shotgun or
a short barreled rifle is guilty of a second degree felony.
(4) If the concealed firearm is used in the commission of a violent felony as defined in
Section 
76-3-203.5
, and the person is a party to the offense, the person is guilty of a second
degree felony.
(5) Nothing in Subsection (1) or (2) [
shall prohibit
] 
prohibits
 a person engaged in the
lawful taking of protected or unprotected wildlife as defined in Title 23, Wildlife Resources
Code of Utah, from carrying a [
concealed weapon or a
] concealed firearm as long as the taking
of wildlife does not occur:
(a) within the limits of a municipality in violation of that municipality's ordinances; or
(b) upon the highways of the state as defined in Section 
41-6a-102
.
198a 
 Ĥ→ 
Section 4. Section 76-10-507 is amended to read:
198b 
76-10-507. Possession of deadly weapon with criminal intent.
198c 
Every person having upon his person [
any
] 
a
 dangerous weapon with intent to [
 unlawfully
198d 
assault another
] 
use it to commit a criminal offense
 is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
←Ĥ
Legislative Review Note
 as of 1-23-15 9:39 AM
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel